ESOn4011/SOCd0106 - FALL 2024 Tuesdays from 12:00 to 13:40, Room U41 B. Nadya Jaworsky, jaworsky@fss.muni.cz, Office 3.66 Consultation Hours: Wednesdays, 11:00-12:00, or by appointment Course Description: At some point in their academic life, students of sociology must develop their own voice to express their thoughts and knowledge – to convey the products of their sociological imagination. One of the primary ways in which they do so is through their writing skills. This course is intended to help students improve their academic writing skills and to practice exchanging their work with their peers. First and foremost, this is a writing-intensive course that provides training in writing sociological essays in several different styles. Further, special attention is given to learning effective methods of research and norms for proper citation of sources. Students also gain experience in organizing the writing process, offering and receiving constructive criticism and revising first drafts of their work. The intelligent use of artificial intelligence (AI) constitutes a major theme in the course, with students learning how to use AI to their advantage without the problem of plagiarism. The ultimate goal is to boost students’ confidence in their academic writing skills and prepare them for future endeavors both inside and out of the university. Course objectives: By the end of the semester, students will gain experience writing: - Book/Article reviews - Expository essays - Social issue reaction papers - Articles on quantitative and qualitative research according to social science journal guidelines By the end of the semester, students will be able to: - Organize and plan the writing process - Prepare and discuss in-class presentations - Give and receive constructive criticism - Evaluate and revise first drafts - Demonstrate knowledge of and practice proper citation - Effectively employ artificial intelligence tools to enhance their writing Teaching methods: The teaching methods used in this course involve weekly seminar meetings, reading of literature, homework exercises and several formal writing assignments. Formal writing assignments: - Social issue opinion essay (1000-1200 words) - Book or article review (650-800 words; 1000 for edited volume) - Final research essay (3500 words +/- 10%, without references; 10-13 pp. double-spaced; up to 8,000 words for PhD students) Class Participation: * Attendance: All students are required to attend every seminar meeting. Any absence must be documented (for example, due to family or medical emergency). Your attendance is important because the course is organized around classroom discussion and giving feedback to each other. * Discussion: Active participation in classroom discussion is an important part of your grade. You are required to read the assigned literature before the seminar meeting to facilitate discussion. * Peer Review: We will engage in the written and oral in-class critique of each student’s first drafts of the written assignments. Each student will be assigned to read another student’s draft essay and give a presentation about suggested revisions. Students receive a final letter grade (A-F) based on the following criteria: 30% - Essay assignments (welcome essay = 3%, social issue essay = 12%, book review = 15%) 35% - Class participation (each class = 2%; PR1 and PR 2 = 3% each; PR3 = 5%) 10% - Final Essay draft and presentation 25% - Final Essay Evaluation is assessed as follows: 90-100 = A 80-89 = B 70-79 = C 66-69 = D 60-65 = E 0-59 = F Language Usage: The quality of your use of English is not part of the grade, but you must write the essays at an adequate level of language use such that they are understandable. Your essays should express your own ideas (see the section on Academic Honesty below). However, you are free to consult with classmates or others to check the quality of your use of English. Using the MU Information System: Course resources are available to students through Masaryk University’s online Information System (IS). In the IS you will find an interactive syllabus which contains important general information about the course and the weekly schedule with links to some of the required course materials – including the required reading and all other information. A version of the weekly lecture PowerPoint presentation slides will be available on the interactive syllabus. The lecture notes are intended as a study aid so you can listen carefully to the lecture without having to take notes on every slide during the lecture presentation. They are not meant to be used to avoid your attendance at the lecture. Academic Honesty The Faculty of Social Studies at MU expects students to know the study rules and maintain academic honesty by refraining from plagiarism and from cheating during exams. Plagiarism means that one presents other peoples’ ideas as one’s own and does not credit the author. Plagiarism is one of the most serious breaches of ethical standards in the academic environment, for it denies the mission of the university and the meaning of studying. From a legal perspective, plagiarism is the stealing of intellectual property. In addition, the use of AI tools should be judicious and under the direction of the teacher. The official FSS policy on academic honesty and on the use of AI technology are available in the course’s interactive syllabus in IS. Academic dishonesty is not tolerated under any circumstances at FSS. The minimum penalty for academic dishonesty is expulsion from the course, a grade of F for the semester, and referral to the Faculty disciplinary committee. PLEASE NOTE: All assignments may require an oral defense. Students will have to prove that their paper does not contain parts that can be classified as plagiarized or contain academic fraudulence. Students have to demonstrate that they used all the references enlisted in the paper and show beyond doubt that they wrote the paper by being able to defend it in a discussion. Literature: American Sociological Association. 2014. American Sociological Association Style Guide. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. Becker, Howard. 2007. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish your Thesis, Book or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Johnson, William A., ed. 2006. The sociology student writer's manual. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Sociology Writing Group. 2008. A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers. 6th ed. New York: Worth Publishers. Somekh, Bridget and Cathy Lewin. 2011. Theory and Methods in Social Research. London: Sage Publications. Turabian, Kate L. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 9^th ed. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. Suggested Reading: Becker, Howard S. 2007. Telling about Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Fowler, H. Ramsey and Jane E. Aaron. 1989. The Little, Brown Handbook, 4th ed. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co. (any edition is fine). Turabian, Kate L. 2010. Student’s Guide to Writing College Papers. 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ALWAYS CHECK THE INTERACTIVE SYLLABUS FOR UPDATED READING AND ASSIGNMENTS! Week Date Seminar topic Required reading 1 Sept 24 Introduction to the course 1. Syllabus 2. FSS Disciplinary Rules 3. ASA Style Guide (download for reference throughout semester) 4. Masaryk University statement on AI 5. How to use Chat GPT – “CHAT GPT Instructions” 2 Oct 1 What is sociology and what can we do with it? (Werner Binder-Guest Lecturer) REQUIRED READING: 1. Romero, Mary. 2020. “Sociology Engaged in Social Justice.” American Sociological Review 85(1) 1–30. 2. SWG, Ch. 1, “Getting Started,” pp. 3-29. (26 pp) 3. Jacobs, JA. Sociological Curiosity: Updating C. Wright Mills. Contexts. 2021;20(3):34-39. 4. Smith, Robert Courtney. 2022."Advancing Publicly Engaged Sociology." Sociological Forum, 37(4), 926-50 HOMEWORK DUE: 500-700 word (no more than 2 pages double-spaced!) welcome essay due Monday, September 30, by 13:00; topic and instructions to be announced in Week 1. OPTIONAL: Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. Oxford University Press. Chapter 1, pp. 3-24. (21 pp.) Giddens, Anthony. 2006. “What is Sociology?” in Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press. (15 pp.) Berger, Peter L. 1963. Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective. New York: Anchor Books. “Introduction.” Pp. 1-24. (23 pp.) Durkheim, Emile. “Social Facts.” Pp. 433-440 in Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science, edited by Michael Martin and Lee C. McIntyre. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (7 pp.) 3 Oct 8 How do we write a [DEL: good :DEL] great expository or opinion essay? REQUIRED READING: 1. Johnson, Ch. 9 “Social Issue Papers,” pp. 156-180. (24 pp.) 2. Purdue Writing Lab, The. 2010. “The Expository Essay.” Retrieved February 16, 2012 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/02/ 3. Writing Expository Essays, various sources (5 pp.) 4. Becker, Writing for Social Scientists, Chapters 1 and 2. (47 pp.) HOMEWORK DUE IN CLASS: INDIVIDUALIZED READING FOR SOCIAL ISSUE ASSIGNMENT & PARAGRAPH ABOUT TOPIC 4 Oct 15 What is bad writing and how can we recognize it? REQUIRED READING: 1. Bishop, Lea, 2023. A computer wrote this paper: What chatgpt means for education, research, and writing. Research, and Writing (January 26, 2023) (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4338981) 2. Pinker, Steven. 2014. Why Academic Writing Stinks and How to Fix It. Retrieved February 1, 2017 (http://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Academics-Stink-at/149105). Pages 2-9 only! 3. Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, The. 2003. “Acknowledging, Paraphrasing and Quoting Sources.” Retrieved February 15, 2012 (http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Acknowledging_Sources.pdf). (7 pp.) 4. SWG, Ch. 3, “Working with Sources.” pp. 45-59 WEEK #4 OPTIONAL READING: Orwell, G. 1946. “Politics and the English Language.” First published: Horizon. GB, London. Retrieved March 15, 2012 (http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit). (9 pp.) Stern, Lisa. 2006. What Every Student Should Know about Avoiding Plagiarism. New York: Pearson/Longman. (pp. 1-73). 5 Oct 22 Peer Review #1 How do we help one another constructively? REQUIRED READING: 1. Mahrer, Kenneth D. 2004. “Proofreading your own writing? Forget it!” The Leading Edge, November. (2 pp.) 2. Trim, Michelle. 2007. What every student should know about practising peer review. New York: Pearson Longman, pp. 1-20. (19 pp.) HOMEWORK DUE: 1st draft of social issue essay due Sunday, October 20 by 13:00, peer review due in class and in the Homework Vault 6 Oct 29 NO CLASS (Reading Week) Reading your book for the book review 7 Nov 5 How do we review a book or article? (MP) REQUIRED READING: 1. Belcher, Wendy. n.d. “Writing the Academic Book Review.” (http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/press/siteart/jli_bookreviewguidelines.pdf). (4 pp.) 2. Bamyeh, Mohammed A. “From the Editor: Ways to Write a Good Book Review.” (2 pp.) 3. SWG, Ch. 5, “The Textual Analysis (or Article Critique) Paper” (23 pp.) 4. Examples of two book reviews by Jaworsky (4 pp.) 5. Example of 750-word edited volume review (2 pp.) 1. HOMEWORK DUE: Final version of social issue essay due Monday, November 4 by 13:00. 8 Nov 12 Peer Review #2 (Book Review) REQUIRED READING: 1. Turabian, Ch. 1-2, pp. 1-24. (24 pp.) HOMEWORK DUE: 1st draft of book review due Sunday, November 10 by 13:00, peer review due in class and in the Homework Vault 9 Nov 19 How do we begin sociological research and writing? REQUIRED READING: 1. Turabian, Ch. 5-7, pp. 51-85. (34 pp.) 2. SWG, YOUR CHOICE of Ch. 6 (Quantitative) or Ch. 7 (Ethnographic) (35 pp.) HOMEWORK DUE: Final version – book review due Monday, November 18 by 13:00. 10 Nov 26 How do we conduct research and engage the literature? REQUIRED READING: 1. Somekh & Lewin – Chapter 2 “Working with Literatures” (8 pp.) 2. Becker, Writing for Social Scientists, Ch. 8 (14 pp.) 3. “Selected AI-Based Literature Review Tools.” Available at https://tamu.libguides.com/c.php?g=1289555 HOMEWORK DUE IN CLASS: Topic, Research Question BRING LAPTOP TO CLASS! 11 Dec 3 How do we finish writing a research essay or thesis? REQUIRED READING: 1. Turabian, Ch. 10-14, pp. 106-135 (29 pp.) OPTIONAL! 2. Becker, Writing for Social Scientists, Ch. 3 & 4 (45 pp.) 1. HOMEWORK DUE: Finalized Paper Proposal, Tuesday, December 2, at 13:00 in Homework Vault OPTIONAL: Becker, Writing for Social Scientists, Ch. 5 & 6 12 Dec 10 How do we get published? REQUIRED READING: 1. Chin, Elizabeth. 2023 "Revise and Resubmit Means Just That. Revise. Resubmit." American Anthropologist. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13825 2. Starn, Orin. 2022. Anthropology and the misery of writing. American Anthropologist. 00 1– 11. https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13677 3. Chin, Elizabeth. "On Publishing Good Work." American Anthropologist. HOMEWORK DUE: Meeting with professor by Monday, December 9 to discuss research essay proposal and overall progress OPTIONAL: Day, Abby. 2007. How to Get Research Published in Journals. 2^nd ed. Aldershot, UK: Gower Publishing. Cornwall, Marie. 2010. “From the Editor: Ten Most Likely Ways an Article Submission Fails to Live up to Publishing Standards.” The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 49(4):i-v .(5 pp.) Boellstorff, Tom. 2008. “How to Get an Article Accepted at American Anthropologist (or Anywhere),” American Anthropologist 110(3): 281–283. (2 pp.) Boellstorff, Tom. 2010. “How to Get an Article Accepted at American Anthropologist (or Anywhere), Part 2” American Anthropologist 112(3):353-356. Boellstorff, Tom. 2011. “Submission and Acceptance: Where, Why and How to Publish Your Article.” American Anthropologist 113(3): 383-388. (5 pp.) 13 Dec 17 Peer Review #3 Presentation/Peer Review of First Essay Drafts No reading! HOMEWORK DUE: First draft of research essay due by Saturday, December 14 at 23:59, peer review due in class and in Homework Vault; 3-5 minute in-class presentation of draft